I am sharing my personal experience here.
Regardless your dogs are acting completely normal & happy, it is highly recommended to have a complete blood panel test once a year, once your dog enters their senior year (in my book, that would be 10 y.o.). Sometimes, you can never tell if there are some things on the borderline “alarming” just from watching your dogs demeanor. And, it is much easier to correct something, when it is just on the fence line. Full panel blood test cost about $200. So, put aside a dollar a day on your dogs 9th birthday, then you will have enough funds to cover the annual exam plus the full senior blood panel test on their 10th birthday. So, my “healthy looking” dog apparently had a RBC level 5.0 on her 10th year annual exam. The normal level should be between 5.5 – 8.5. What may cause this? The vet couldn’t explain, because she behaved perfectly happy & energetic. I assumed the home made meals I have been feeding her was missing some important ingredients. But that’s just an assumption.
So, starting last year, I had added a few extra ingredients in her diet. Animal liver, kidney, & lung. Sounds gross right? Yes you bet it is. That’s why I used freeze-dried products, because I probably would puke my own guts out if I had to touch the raw animal guts. I would never have that nasty stuff in my kitchen (and that’s probably the cause of an alarming RBC level on one of my dogs). If you have the stronger stomach, you actually can freeze dry this stuff yourself, much cheaper than to buy the commercially packed freeze-dried liver/kidney/lung. Each day I had been adding a 0.5oz of freeze-dried guts plus a whole raw egg (yes, including the shell) to her diet. IF you use a non freeze-dried version, you have to give at least 1oz per-day. Freeze-dried stuff is lighter because there is no water contained in them.
I did not do any retest until her 11th birthday. IMHO, since the dog was behaving happy & energetic, there was no reason to do the retest anytime sooner, as long as I was doing something right to correct the alarming part. So, on her 11th birthday, I had another full senior blood panel test done, along with her annual exam. This time, I made an appointment with the head of a reputable vet clinic. I had reviewed his credentials, he was right up there comparable to my previous (now retired) vet. However, he was only available 2 days out of a week for just several hours. So, it’s a great vet to have for the opinion part, but it’s not someone you can rely on any emergency situation, like the role my former VET had provided us for 10+ years.
Back to the lab result, I just got a phone call from the VET. The new RBC level is 6.1 (previously 5.0), HgB level is 14.3 (previously 11.7), HCTis 44 (previously 37). Every single thing on the result now is PERFECTLY NORMAL. So, my approach in adjusting the additional nutrients for my dog was working as planned.
